You're a Stark
by nalomeliia
Summary: AU: A different take on Jon and Catelyn's interaction before he took the Black.


"He's going to miss you."

Catelyn leaned against the arm of the wooden chair. She looked up at Jon Snow who had come to bid Bran farewell. He was taking the Black, and he was leaving today with Benjen Stark. She watched as he brushed back Bran's brown hair.

Jon didn't say anything; he felt terrible for what happened to Bran. He wanted nothing more than to find out who did this to his brother.

"Jon."

Upon hearing Lady Catelyn's voice, he looked over at her. Jon had never seen her like this; her eyes were puffy and red, with a blank and empty expression.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

He removed his hand from Bran's head and took the seat on the opposite side of his bed. "It is a great honor, taking the Black."

Catelyn nodded in agreement. "It is, but are you sure you want to do this?" She looked at him, her eyes searching for something that Jon didn't want to admit.

He slumped heavily in his chair, his hand running through his curly brown hair- he looked so much like Ned. "I'm a Snow, I need to make something out of that."

"You can do that here, Jon. Don't let your last name stop you."

Jon shook his head, leaning up in his chair. "No matter what I do I will always be seen as a bastard."

"And so are half the men in Westeros." She shifted in her seat, pulling at the green cloth of her dress. "You may be a Snow by name, but you are a Stark by blood. You are meant to be here in Winterfell, you are meant to do great things. Taking the Black is honorable, yes, but you want something more. You are your father's son, Jon."

He looked up at her, with that innocent look she had seen a million times. He was still a boy and he was so eager to be a man. Jon may not be her son by blood but he was a part of her just as much.

"Just think about it."

"I will."

Jon got up from the chair and smiled a bit at her, and then looked back at Bran. With a heavy heart, he walked out of the chambers and out into the air of Winterfell. Catelyn watched him go before turning back to her son in the bed. She took his hand in hers and kissed it.

A week had past since Ned and Jon left Winterfell; Ned was riding south with the girls to King's Landing after accepting the job as the King's Hand. And Jon was going north to the Wall, to pledge his life to the Black. Bran had finally woken up, but tragedy still loomed over the castle. Her son was alive, but he was never going to walk again.

Bran was distraught and nothing Catelyn, Robb or Rickon was doing could change it. He needed Jon, Catelyn knew that, and so did Bran. But he was gone, and she kept trying to explain that to him, but Bran refused to listen. After a frustrating fight with him, she had left him alone with his direwolf, and she was now pacing back and forth in her own chambers.

Catelyn wanted to scream at the gods, old and new, for doing this to her child. But screaming wasn't going to fix him, nothing was. Filled with defeat, Catelyn sat on her bed, her hands going to her face and then to her tangled red hair. She closed her eyes and tried to forget everything for a while, but the footsteps on the stone floor prevented that. She could hear them stop at the opening of her chamber door. "Please, not now."

"I thought you wanted me here."

At the sound of the familiar voice, Catelyn removed her face from her hands and looked towards the door. There stood Jon, weather beat and tired. "What are you doing here?"

Jon laughed a bit and shrugged. "My family needs me."

Catelyn laughed a bit too and got up from her spot on the bed, going to him and hugging him. Jon was taken back by the hug- he couldn't remember the last time she had done that. But nevertheless, he hugged her back. Catelyn pulled away quickly and took his hand. "Come, Bran will want to see you."

Jon laughed a bit as she pulled him from the chambers into the hallway. She let his hand go as they walked quickly together. She stopped at Bran's door, which was always closed now. "I want to surprise him; can you stand a bit away from the door?"

"Of course." Jon moved to the side near the wall out of any view from his little brother.

Catelyn opened the door and at the same time knocked on the wood. "Bran...are you asleep?"

He was facing the open window, his direwolf at the foot of the bed. Summer acknowledged Catelyn by a tilt of the head, but after recognizing who it was, went back to its previous position.

"No."

She pushed the door opened more. "I have something for you."

"Not now Mother, please."

Catelyn smiled a bit and let the door swing fully opened. "You will like it, I promise."

Bran sighed heavily and did not take is eyes off the window. Catelyn stepped aside and pulled Jon into the room. Jon went further into Bran's quarters.

"Are you going to sulk in here all day? Or get outside and start riding a horse?"

Bran's head shot from the window to Jon. "Mother said you took the Black."

"I did, but you needed me more than they did."

Jon moved to his brother's bedside and took his hand in his own. Bran smiled and put his free arm around him, clinging to the furs that adorned his shoulders. Catelyn stood back and watched her two sons; Bran was going to get better. If Catelyn or Robb couldn't do it she knew that Jon could.


End file.
